After undergraduate studies at Yale University, Jessica Chang spent a year doing volunteer work in China and then attended Duke University School of Medicine. As a medical student, she was selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute NIH Research Scholar and spent two years at the National Eye Institute doing basic and clinical research in ophthalmology. She then completed ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute, followed by ASOPRS (American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery) fellowship training in Oculoplastics and Neuro-ophthalmology.

Her professional interests include age-related changes and diseases of the eyes and periorbital structures, international ophthalmology, epidemiology, and medical education. Outside of ophthalmology, she enjoys drawing and painting, swing dancing, and yoga.